New England Patriots WR Chad Ochocinco is Ever the Defiant One.

New England Patriots Wide Receiver Chad Ochocinco was hit by rookie Linebacker Mason Foster during the Patriots exhibition game against the Bucs. Today Chad tweeted that he didn’t agree with the fine and would pay it personally. The tweet in question was addressed to Roger Goodell who the mercurial star referred to as “Dad.”

Couldn’t tell if the Dad comment was related to players’ feeling that they are treated like kids (for an example, see Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson telling Cam Newton not to get any tattoos or piercings) or if it’s a reference to Colin Cowherd’s IDIOTIC statement that players look at Goodell as a father figure. I’m still in disbelief that Cowherd said that…he must get his information from Fox news.

Two things here:

1. No doubt in my mind that Ochocinco was defenseless. The question (not for the refs) is whether the hit could have been prevented given Foster’s momentum. My feeling is that that was a hit that didn’t have to happen. Everyone wants to stop the completion but sometimes you have to settle for stopping the gain after. The public and players need to get used to this.

2. Foster is a rookie and hasn’t even received his first game check. So regardless of whether the fine is right or wrong, it’s stand up for Ocho to pay the fine. That lil boy doesn’t  have a lot of money yet. Foster was a 3rd round pick. He signed a deal for 4 years that is worth $2.784-million (but could go up). Only $1.4-million is guaranteed in the first two seasons. A fine of a quarter of his game pay would be a big ouch for a rookie mistake during a game that doesn’t count.

View the hit for yourself here: